PLASTIC PACKAGING
PAFA warns of danger of lack of recycling infrastructure / Courtauld 2 targets announced
The UK Packaging and Films Association (PAFA, Nottingham; www.pafa.org.uk) has warned that the UK government risks setting unachievable plastic recycling targets before ensuring there is the infrastructure in place to make recycling more efficient in the country. PAFA said the UK has not sufficiently encouraged local authorities to operate consistent collection strategies supported by efficient sorting facilities, which is necessary if the industry is to succeed in providing the uncontaminated materials required to feed good quality recycling markets. It believes the UK is falling behind in recycling infrastructure to meet higher targets – 56.9% plastics recycling by 2020 – than set across Europe.
The association said that the use of mixed plastic films, found in most retail packaging, can suffer higher levels of contamination in the waste stream. In addition, these films are left to the end of the sorting process at most municipal recycling facilities. This is likely to result in the loss of UK jobs to recyclers in the Far East, it warned.
PAFA’s CEO, Barry Turner said: “We have participated positively in consultation at every stage so far. In fact we have helped bring together those in waste management at a local council level with the recycling and reprocessing sector to work on resolving the obstacles that stand in the way of higher plastics recycling. The new UK targets are higher than any other European country in spite of the fact that others have achieved far more consistent collection and sorting methodologies at local level. In the UK we have a widely disparate approach from one local authority to the next.”
Meanwhile, PAFA welcomed the statement by Liz Goodwin, CEO of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP, Banbury / UK; www.wrap.org.uk) that “it’s no longer enough to look at the impact of packaging alone”, referring to new targets set in the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, which is designed to minimise resource usage in the grocery sector to reduce the climate change impacts.
Working to a 2012 deadline, Courtauld Commitment 2 uses 2009 data and moves away from solely weight-based targets, with the aim of achieving a more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain. The new targets, announced on 4 March 2010, cover three areas. The first, packaging, foresees a reduction in weight, as well as an increase in recycling rates and the recycled content of all grocery packaging. These measures are aimed at reducing the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10%. Secondly, UK household food and drink wastes should be reduced by 4% and, finally, traditional product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain should be cut by 5%, including both solid and liquid wastes.
“One of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things we buy,” Goodwin said, “This new agreement will bring about changes ranging from more efficient methods of production to the impact of household consumption.”
Turner said the new target for food waste and the move towards a more comprehensive review of the impact of grocery products on the environment is to be welcomed, but believes there is a danger that, if not properly implemented, even the current proposal could result in ill-informed decisions. “Although the vital role of packaging is acknowledged by Courtauld, I believe this latest proposal could still risk changes in packaging being made which could increase food waste which, in turn, has a much higher carbon impact than the packaging that protects the food,” he concluded.
The association said that the use of mixed plastic films, found in most retail packaging, can suffer higher levels of contamination in the waste stream. In addition, these films are left to the end of the sorting process at most municipal recycling facilities. This is likely to result in the loss of UK jobs to recyclers in the Far East, it warned.
PAFA’s CEO, Barry Turner said: “We have participated positively in consultation at every stage so far. In fact we have helped bring together those in waste management at a local council level with the recycling and reprocessing sector to work on resolving the obstacles that stand in the way of higher plastics recycling. The new UK targets are higher than any other European country in spite of the fact that others have achieved far more consistent collection and sorting methodologies at local level. In the UK we have a widely disparate approach from one local authority to the next.”
Meanwhile, PAFA welcomed the statement by Liz Goodwin, CEO of the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP, Banbury / UK; www.wrap.org.uk) that “it’s no longer enough to look at the impact of packaging alone”, referring to new targets set in the second phase of the Courtauld Commitment, which is designed to minimise resource usage in the grocery sector to reduce the climate change impacts.
Working to a 2012 deadline, Courtauld Commitment 2 uses 2009 data and moves away from solely weight-based targets, with the aim of achieving a more sustainable use of resources over the entire lifecycle of products, throughout the whole supply chain. The new targets, announced on 4 March 2010, cover three areas. The first, packaging, foresees a reduction in weight, as well as an increase in recycling rates and the recycled content of all grocery packaging. These measures are aimed at reducing the carbon impact of grocery packaging by 10%. Secondly, UK household food and drink wastes should be reduced by 4% and, finally, traditional product and packaging waste in the grocery supply chain should be cut by 5%, including both solid and liquid wastes.
“One of the biggest challenges society faces over the next decade is reducing the environmental impact of the things we buy,” Goodwin said, “This new agreement will bring about changes ranging from more efficient methods of production to the impact of household consumption.”
Turner said the new target for food waste and the move towards a more comprehensive review of the impact of grocery products on the environment is to be welcomed, but believes there is a danger that, if not properly implemented, even the current proposal could result in ill-informed decisions. “Although the vital role of packaging is acknowledged by Courtauld, I believe this latest proposal could still risk changes in packaging being made which could increase food waste which, in turn, has a much higher carbon impact than the packaging that protects the food,” he concluded.
09.03.2010 Plasteurope.com [215680-0]
Published on 09.03.2010